This is by far Brands's best Slam result. Previously, he had never made it out of the first round. In his match with Hanescu, the big Romanian retired in the fifth set, down 3-0, denying Brands the honor of a full five-set victory.

Catching Up with Old Friends

Justine Henin (Curtain Call, Australian Open Day 13) - Undoubtedly, today's loss to Kim Clijsters (8th, Belgium) was disappointing. But her ranking will rise again with this result and she should have a decent seed for the US Open, a tournament she has won twice.

Chanelle Scheepers (Curtain Call, Roland Garros Day 8) - Scheepers was awarded a wild card into the singles draw, apparently on the strength of her strong showing at the French. Unfortunately, she lost in the first round. Her showing in doubles was better, teaming with Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) to make it to the third round, taking out the 13 seeds along the way. However, Jankovic pulled out of their match today.

All Part of My Fantasy

It was a brutal day for my brackets. I lost a finalist (Sharapova) and a semifinalist (Henin) on the women's side and a semifinalist (Roddick) on the men's side. For the women, the only semifinalist I have left is my champion, Venus Williams.